Electric switch



Dec. 2,1947.

I M. VAN VALKENBURGH ELECTRIC SWITCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 22,1944 7 INVEA'TOR.

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1947. M. VAN VALKENBUIQGH 2,4

ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed Nov. 22, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 i9 INYENTOR.

,Merv il? VaBWZeaJuvafi 4 BY attorneys Patented Dec. 2, 1947 ELECTRICSWITCH Merritt Van Valkenbur assigrior to M. H. Rh

gh, Upper Nyack, N. Y., odes, Incorporated, Hart ford, Conn acorporation of Connecticut Application November 22, 1944, Serial No.564,570 8 Claims. (Cl. ZOO-39) This invention relates to electricswitches and, with respect to certain features, to time-delayed actionswitches.

The aim of the invention is to provide an im proved electric switchhaving various features of novelty and advantage and which isparticularly characterized; by its effectiveness and accuracy inoperation and by its rugged construction, the arrangement being suchthat my improved device has an unusually long and useful life.

A further aim of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement ofthis character which is very simple in construction, which may beeconomically manufactured, which is compact in arrangement, and whichrequires a minimum amount ofadjustment and care.

A further aim of the invention is to provide an improved switching meanswherein the contacts are uniformly made and broken, and sticking,burning, and fouling are practically avoided, with the result that thepossibility of switch failure is minimized even under most severeoperating conditions.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism ofsimple and eiiective construction for actuating the switching means toeffect a quick make and a quick break between the contacts thereof.

It is, also the object of the invention to provide an improvedarrangement of this sort whichis flexible in use in that my improvementsmay be incorporated in switches of various sorts such as single pole.single throw, single pole double throw, double pole single throw, anddouble pole double throw switches, and the arrangement may be modifiedto meet specific requirements and prescribed current arrangements.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out morev indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplificd in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein I- have shown, for illustrativepurposes, one embodiment which the present invention may take:

Figure 1 is afront view of my improved switch;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken centrally and'longitudinallythrough the switch substantially on theline 3--3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is. a front view of the switch with the front plate and metalcase removed and with, the

central portion of the upper timer plate 50 broken away;

Fig. 5' is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5of Fig. 3 and shows, in front elevation, the base and the switchingmeans carried thereby;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on line li -6 of Fig. 3 andshows, in rearview, the cam operated mechanismthrough which theswitching means is actuated, with the parts in their normal position atrest;

Fig. '7 is also a sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 3 and lookingin the direction of the arrows Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 butshows the parts in the position which they take during the initialsetting movement of the cam assembly;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but shows the parts in the positionwhich they have after the cam assembly has been set in accordance withthe desired time interval between the setting operation and therestoration of the parts to the position shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 but shows the cam assembly as havingbeen rotated by the clock mechanism just short of its final normalposition shown in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 11 is a detail view showing the connection between the bracket 38and the carrier 39.

Referring tov the drawings in detail, my improved device is shown ashaving a housing which includes a, base H) of insulating material, suchasBakelite, a metal ring-like case I I, and a front closure, plate I2.The base is formed hollow and its peripheral wall has at its forwardedge a rabbet l3 in which the rear edge of the metal case engages. Theparts of the housing are secured together by the pillars l4 and thescrews l5 and I5 cooperating therewith. Within the housing and engagingthe front face of the peripheral wall of the base is a bafile disk orpartition member I! of insulating material which divides the housinginto two chambers, one for the switching means shown in Fig. 5 and theother for the timing device designated generally by the letter T. Thisbaffle plate serves to prevent the current from jumping from the switchcontacts to the parts of the timing device. The baille plate hasopenings through which extend certain of theelements carried by thetiming device assembly, as hereinafter explained more in detail. Thefront closure plate l2 may have acentral, forwardly extending,externally threaded sleeve portion 20 which may be employed for mountingthe device on a panel 2|.

The sleeve extends through an opening in the panel and is secured inplace therein by a nut 22. The arbor 23 of the timing device extendsthrough the sleeve 20 and has, at its forward end, a handle or knob 24provided with a pointer 25. The pointer cooperates with a dial 26 whichmay be clamped against the panel 2| by the nut 22.

Referring now to the switching means, as shown most clearly in Fig. 5,mounted within the base are two poles 21 and 28 respectively providedwith fixed contacts 29 and 30. The poles are secured to the base bystuds or inserts 31 which extend through the rear wall of the base sothat the line connections (not shown) may be connected thereto. Thepoles, except for the portions which carry the contacts, are covered byinsulator plates 32.

The numeral 35 designates a contactor blade having on its opposite endscontacts 36 and 31 adapted to respectively engage the fixed contacts 29and 30. The contacts 33 and 31 are located on opposite sides of theblade. The contactor blade is carried through the medium of a bracket 38by a pivoted arm or carrier 39. The carrier, which is in the form of athin, rigid strip of insulating material, is pivoted on a stud 40 whichis centrally located in the rear wall of the base and in axial alignmentwith the arbor 23. Between the stud and the carrier is a bushing 41. Thebracket 38 is in the form of a right angled metal piece to the forwardlyextending arm of which is secured the contactor blade 35 as by means ofrivets 43. The bracket is connected to the carrier in such manner thatthere is a limited lost motion between the two so that, when the movablecontacts are brought into engagement with the fixed ones, there isprovided a small amount of self adjustment in the alignment of thecontact carrying blade to aflord relative equalization of contactpressure between contacts 33 and 29 and contacts 31 and 3B which, at thesame time, provides a slight sliding movement therebetween which keepsthe contacts clean, whereby fouling, burning, and inadequate contactconditions are largely avoided. To this end, the contactor blade may beconnected to the carrier in various ways but, by way of illustration, Ihave shown in Fig. 11 and on a somewhat exaggerated scale the bracket 38as being connected to the carrier by studs 44, the shanks of which areof slightly lesser diameter than the openings 49 in the bracket throughwhich they extend. The studs, for example, may have a diameter of .062inch, and the openings in the bracket which accommodate these studs mayhave a diameter of .067 inch. Secured to the other, in the presentinstance, the lower end of the carrier is a U-shaped bracket 45 theforward arm of which is provided with a notch or slot 46 whichaccommodates an actuating pin '5 carried by a lever 48. The lever 48 isactuated, as hereinafter described more in detail, by the cam assemblydesignated generally by the letter C and which is mounted on the rearend of the spindle or arbor 23.

Referring now to the timing device, the same is shown, for purposes ofexemplification, as comprising a clock mechanism having the arbor 23journaled in bearings provided in frame plates 55 and 5| maintained inspaced relation by pillars 52. Fixed to the arbor is a main gear 53which is connected through a gear train 54 to an escapement wheel 55.Cooperating with the teeth of this escapement wheel are the pins 56 ofthe usual pallet wheel 51 whereby the speed at which the clock arbor isdriven in one direction is controlled. The arbor is driven during thetiming operation (in the present instance in a counterclockwisedirection, referring to Fig. l) by a spring 58, one end of which isconnected to the arbor and the other end of which is connected to a lug59 struck rearwardly from the front frame plate 50. This spring, ofcourse, is wound up when the knob is turned clockwise to set themechanism in accordance with the desired time interval. The clockmechanism is secured to the base by means of screws 60. These screwspass forwardly through bosses 6| provided on the base iii, and theforward ends of the screws are received by threaded openings 62 providedin the rear frame plate 5|. The bosses 6| straddle the lower end of thecarrier 39, as will be seen most clearly from Fig. 5, but aresufficiently spaced apart so as not to interfere with the pivotalmovement of the carrier.

The contactor blade 35 of the switching means is operated with a quickmake movement and a quick break movement by the cam assembly C actingthrough a cam actuated lever 15 and the switch operating lever 48. Theselevers are pivoted on a pin ll carried by and extending rearwardiy fromthe back frame plate 5| of the clock mechanism. The levers arepositioned between this back plate and the baflie plate or disk I! andthey straddle the arbor 23 forwardly of the cam assembly C. The lever 10has between its ends a follower pin 12 which is resiliently urgedtowards the periphery of the cam assembly C by a spring 13 coiled aboutthe pin H and having one end engaging against an anchor pin 14 and theother end hooked about a lug l5 projecting rearwardly from the lever 10adjacent its point of pivot. The lever 10 has a laterally extending arm16 against the end of which the lever 48 is adapted to engage, as shownmost clearly in Fig. 6. The levers are urged towards each other by atension spring 11, the opposite ends of which are respectively connectedto the free or lower ends of the levers. As previously stated, the lever48 has a pin 41 which engages in the notch 46 in the bracket 45 which isfixed to the carrier 39. The lever 48 has between its ends a rearwardlyoffset arm or bracket 18 which carries a pin 19 adapted to cooperatewith a hold-back member associated with the cam assembly, as will belater described.

The cam assembly comprises a cam disk 8| fixed to the arbor and asupplemental disk 82 journaled on the arbor for limited rotary movementrelative to the disk 8|. In order to permit of limited lost motionbetween the disks BI and 82, the former has a pin or teat 83 whichextends into an arcuate slot 84 provided in the disk 82. The cam disk 8|has a notch in its periphery, and this notch has a cam or sloping edge85. The disk 82 is of slightly larger diameter than the disk BI and ithas a notch 85, both edges of which may be generally radially disposed.Normally, the follower pin 12 engages in these notches, as shown in Fig,6. With this arrangement, when the arbor is manually turned to set thedevice for operation for a predetermined time period, the cam assemblyis turned therewith, clockwise with respect to Fig. 1 andcounter-clockwise with respect to Fig. 6, with the result that the camedge 85 of the disk 8| will cam the pin outwardly thereby moving thelever 16 to the position shown in Fig. 8. The device having been set,the arbor will now be rotated in the opposite direction by the clockspring 58 and, due to the engagement of the follower pin 12 against theperiphery of the disk 82, the latter will remain stationary until theteat 83 engages the leading end of the slot 84 and then the two diskswill rotate together until the pin rides olf of the periphery of thedisk 82 and into the notches in the disks 8| and 82.

The hold-back member 80 serves to prevent the switch operating arm frommoving on initial setting movement of the device and then allow theswitch operating arm to operate with a quick movement whereby it willsnap the switching means from one position to another, in the presentinstance, from an "01? position to an on one. This hold-back member isloosely mounted on the inner end of the arbor 23, rearwardl of the camassembly. It has a lug 98 adapted to cooperate with the pin '79 carriedby the switch operating lever'48. It also has a shoulder 9| which isnormally urged into engagement with an abutment 93, here shown as beingin the form of 9. Din carried by the cam disk 8|. The hold-back memberis resiliently urged into the position shown in Figs. 6 and 9 by meansof a spring 94 which is coiled about the arbor and has its opposite endsrespectively anchored to the lug 90 and the pin 93.

The baflie disk I], as shown in Fig, '7, has openings =95, 96, 91 and 98which respectively accommodate the pivot pin or post H, the cam assemblyC, the bosses SI, and the pin 41 which cooperates with the carrier 39.In order to positively prevent the arbor from being turned past zeroposition, the arbor has a stop arm 99 (see Fig. 7) fixed thereto whichcooperates with the raised shoulder I provided on the back frame plateof the clock mechanism.

The operation of the device is briefly as follows: Starting with theparts in the positions shown in Figs. 1 to 7, to set the device the knob2 3 is turned clockwise with respect to Fig. 1 into reg- 'istry with thenumeral on the dial corresponding to the desired time interval duringwhich it is desired that the switch be on (or off as the case may be).In Figs. 8 and 9 the arrows on the disk :8] indicate the direction ofsetting when the device is viewed from the rear. Upon initial settingmovement of the knob, the cam edge 85 of the disk will cam the followerpin 12 outwardly thereby moving the actuating lever 10 from the normalposition shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. .8. When this is done,the spring 71 is placed under increased tension. At the same time thatthe pin 12 is being cammed outwardly, the abutment pin 93, due to itsengagement with the shoulder 91 of the hold-back member, moves thehold-back member to a position (see Fig. 8) where the lug 90 thereoflies in the path of movement of the pin 19 so that the sw' ch operatinglever 48 cannot at this time follow the lever 10. However, on continuedsetting movement of the arbor, the hold-back member is moved out of thepath of movement of the pin 19 whereupon the switch operating lever 48,under the influence of the spring 1-1, will quickly move from theposition shown in Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. 9, and upon suchmovement, the switch will be closed with a snap action. The devicehaving thus been set to operate for a predetermined interval of time,the clock spring 58 will now drive the arbor 23 and the cam assembly Ccounterclockwise with respect to Fig. 1 and clockwise with respect toFigs. 6, 8, 9 and 10. Due to the engagement of the follower pin 12against the periphery of the disk 82, the latter remains stationaryuntil the pin 83 comes up against the now leading edge of the slot 84 inthe disk 82. Then the two disks 8! and 82 will continue to rotate inunison until the follower pin 12 rides off Of the periphery of the disk82 into the notches in these disks. When the follower pin thus ridesinto the notches, the spring 73 moves the cam actuated lever and theswitch operating member with a quick movement from the positions shownin Fig. 1.0 to their normal positions shown in Fig. 6 with the resultthat the switch is broken with a quick break movement. During at least aportion of the timing operation, the leading edge of the hold-back lugwill en.- gage the pin 19 carried by the switch operating lever, asshown in Fig. 10. When the switch is closed at the end of the timingcycle, this pin is moved out of the path of movement of the lug so thatthe hold-back member, under the influence of the spring 94, will movefrom the position shown in Fig. 10 to that shown in Fig. 6. Ob,-viously, if desirable to reduce friction, rollers might be substitutedfor pins 12 and 19 in levers l0 and 68, respectively.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying draw.-ings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter .of language, might be said to falltherebetween I claim as my invention:

1. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a switch, timing means havingan arbor manually rotatable in one direction to set the mechanism forthe desired time cycle and driven in the op,- posite direction in atime-controlled manner, cam means on said arbor, a cam actuated membermovable by said cam means in onedirection upon initial setting operationof the timing means and movable in the opposite direction with a snapaction at the end of the time cycle, a switch operating member movablein one direction with a snap action by said cam actuated member at theend of the time cycle, and means on the arbor for preventing movement ofthe switch operating memher in the opposite direction upon initialsetting movement of the arbor and then permitting the same to move insaid last-mentioned direction with a snap action.

.2. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a switch, timing means havingan arbor manually rotatable in one direction to set the mechanism anddriven in a timeopposite direction, a cam assembly on said arborcomprising a disk provided with a notch, a cam actuated member having afollower adapted to engage in said notch and to be cammed thereoutofupon initial setting of the arbor, a spring urging said cam actuatedmember in a direction to engage said follower with said cam assembly, aswitch operating member movable in one direction with a snap action bysaid cam actuated member at the end of the time cycle, and a latch onsaid arbor for preventing the said switch operating arm from moving inthe opposite direction upon initial setting movement of the arbor andthen permitting the same to move with a snap action.

3. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a

Switch having a member movable between two positions, timing meansincluding an arbor manually rotatable in one direction to set themechanism for the desired time cycle and driven in a time-controlledmanner in the opposite direction, a cam actuated member alternatelymovable between a first position and a second position, cam means onsaid arbor arranged to move said cam actuated member from the firstposition to the second one during the setting operation of the timingmeans and to permit said cam actuated member to move back to the firstposition with a snap action at the end of the time cycle, a switchoperating member connected to said switch member and movable in oppositedirections, and means on said arbor for delaying movement of said switchoperating arm in one direction upon initial setting movement of thearbor and then permitting the same to move in said direction with a snapaction, said switch operating arm being moved with a snap action in theopposite direction by said cam actuated member at the end of the timecycle.

4. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a switch having a membermovable between two positions, timing means including an arbor manuallyrotatable in one direction to set the mechanism for the desired timecycle and driven in a time-controlled manner in the opposite direction,cam means on said arbor, a pivoted cam actuated lever associated withsaid cam means and arranged to be moved thereby in one direction duringthe initial setting operation of the timing means, a spring associatedwith said cam actuated lever for moving the same in the oppositedirection with a snap action at the end of the time cycle, a pivotedswitch operating lever operatively connected to said switch member, aspring between said levers and normally urging them together, and latchmeans on the arbor for preventing movement of the switch operating armupon initial setting movement of the arbor.

5. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a switch, timing means havingan arbor manually rotatable in one direction to set the mechanism forthe desired time cycle and driven in a timecontrolled manner in theopposite direction, a cam assembly on said arbor and comprising a diskhaving a notch in its periphery, a cam actuated lever having a follower,a spring normally urging said lever in a direction to maintain saidfollower against said disk, said cam means being arranged to cam thefollower out of said notch upon the initial setting operation of thearbor and to permit said follower to fall into said notch with a snapaction at the end of the time cycle, a switch operating leveroperatively connected to said switch and maintained by said cam actuatedlever in position in one direction when said follower is engaged in saidnotch, and a latch carried by said arbor for temporarily, during initialsetting operation of said cam means, holding said switch operating leverand then permitting said switch operating lever to move toward said camactuated lever with a snap movement.

6. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a switch, timing means havingan arbor manually rotatable in one direction to set the mechanism forthe desired time cycle and driven in a timecontrolled manner in theopposite direction, cam means on said arbor, a cam actuated levermovable by said cam means to one position upon initial setting operationof the timing means and movable in the opposite direction with a snapaction at the end of the time cycle, a switch operating lever movable inone direction with a snap action by said cam actuated lever at the endof the time cycle, a latch journaled on said arbor for limited movementrelative thereto and having 3, lug for preventing movement of the switchoperating arm in the opposite direction upon initial setting movement ofthe arbor and then permitting the same to move in said last-mentioneddirection with a snap action and toward engagement with saidfirst-mentioned lever, and a spring associated with said latch.

7. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a switch, timing means havingan arbor manually rotatable in one direction to set the mechanism forthe desired time cycle and driven in a timecontrolled manner in theopposite direction, cam means on said arbor having a disk provided witha notch, a cam actuated lever disposed to one side of said arbor andnormally urged towards the same, said lever having a follower adapted tobe cammed out of said notch upon initial setting movement of the timingmeans and to move into said notch with a snap action at the end of thetime cycle, a switch actuating lever disposed to the other side of saidarbor and engageable with said first-mentioned lever, a spring normallyurging said switch operating lever into engagement with said switchactuated lever, and means associated with said cam means for preventingmovement of said switch operating lever While said follower is beingcammed out of said notch and then permitting said switch actuating leverto move with a snap action toward engagement with said cam actuatedlever.

8. In a time-controlled switch mechanism, a switch, timing means havingan arbor manually rotatable in one direction to set the mechanism forthe desired time cycle and driven in a timecontrolled manner in theopposite direction, cam means on said arbor having a disk provided witha notch, a cam actuated lever disposed to one side of said arbor andnormally urged towards the same, said lever having a follower adapted tobe cammed out of said notch upon initial setting movement of the timingmeans and to move into said notch with a snap action at the end of thetime cycle, a switch actuating lever disposed to the other side of saidarbor and engageable with said first-mentioned lever, a spring normallyurging said switch operating lever toward engagement with said camactuated lever, a latch on said arbor for preventing movement of saidswitch operating lever while said follower is being cammed out of saidnotch and then permitting said switch actuating lever to move with asnap action toward engagement with said cam actuated lever, said latchhaving limited oscillatory movement with respect to said cam means, anda spring for normally urging said latch to an operative position.

MERRITT VAN VALKENBURGH.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bauman June 2, 1891Number

